Northam

The town of Northam, with a population of 7 000 people, is situated on a bend of the picturesque Avon River in the heart of the Avon Valley.

The townsite was set aside in November 1830 — along with those of York and Toodyay, also in the Avon Valley — but it was not until the demand for new agricultural land in the 1850s that an actual settlement was established in Northam. Initially overshadowed by York, Northam achieved prominence with the extension of railway to the Goldfields in 1894. It became an important centre for the provision of public services such as railways, roads, and water supplies, as well as a regional centre for the surrounding agricultural lands.

Large army training bases were established at Northam in both World Wars and in 1941 the 118th Battalion Military Hospital was opened, many wounded troops, both Australian and American, being nursed there. In May 1949 the hospital became the Holden Commonwealth Departmental Immigration Accommodation Centre, while in August that year the Northam Army Camp became the Department of Immigration Reception and Training Centre, Northam. Over the next few years thousands of refugees were accommodated in these camps, many later settling in Northam giving the town a population mix quite different to most other rural towns. A number of them worked on the water supply scheme.

Gary Peters

At Northam, the sojourner quits civilisation and plunges into the desert. The town is the borderline between the new and the old – between the patrimony of the ploughman and the miner.

Albert Calvert, 1897

As a regional centre Northam today provides health, education, shopping and commercial services, as well as recreation facilities to its own citizens as well as to the larger surrounding population. It boasts a well-equipped regional hospital, a senior high school and, appropriately, a campus of the CY O’Connor College of TAFE.

Gary Peters

Northam may be a relatively small rural town, but its citizens have exercised considerable political influence in Western Australia. Five of the State’s Premiers have come from Northam – George Throssell (1901), Sir Hal Colebatch (1919), Sir James Mitchell (1919-24 & 1930-33), Albert (Bert) Hawke (1953-59) and Dr Carmen Lawrence (1990-93).